May 2014

May 31, 2014

While authorities are trying to keep track of a San Francisco woman who was breeding rats in her room at a residential hotel and releasing them in public parks, they say their hands are tied as far as trying to stop her.

The "Rat Girl" is actually 43 years old with a big thing for rats. While living in a public housing room, she ended up with several hundred of them. They tunneled into neighboring rooms and elsewhere in the neighborhood. Following her removal from the location, the Public Health Department exterminated a thousand rats in the room and neighboring areas.

That whole "compassionate" approach of not involuntarily committing peple who clearly need psychiatric treatment has been going on since the 1970s. It was a Grand Experiment, but it's time to own up to the fact that it's failed. There's nothing "compassionate" about dumping them onto the streets, or even into public housing, when the underlying issues aren't being addressed.

More brilliance from ODOT: as you may know, there's a parking lot nestled between the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-84 at Multnomah Falls. It's a great little convenience, and especially popular on days like today; warm, clear, sunny - great for a hike and a few photos. That's a problem, because the lot's really small - and you can access it from both westbound and eastbound freeway lanes.

So it fills up quickly, which ODOT says causes problems because traffic backs up out of the lot and disrupts other traffic.

Their solution: wire the parking lot and tag it into a gate - but only on the eastbound side. When the lot's full, the gate closes (although of course, westbound traffic can still enter the lot unimpeded). What this means is that, buffaloed by the closed gate, drivers simply stop; creating even worse disruptions for traffic in the eastbound lanes.

Tamara Reid was driving along I-84 over Memorial Day weekend when she said cars in front of her abruptly stopped, trying to get into the lot when the gate was down.

“We had to slam on our brakes to come to a complete stop in the middle of the freeway,” Reid said. “There was traffic coming up around the curve behind us and darting into the slow lane … we had nowhere to go.”

The solution? Easy:

Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies said they are aware of the problems and patrolling the area to make sure drivers aren’t backing up into the interstate, waiting for the gate to open. Anyone caught doing so will be given a ticket.

Brilliant, isn't it? ODOT turns a minor problem into a bigger problem. Install a gate to impede traffic, and if found to be impeding traffic, you get a fine. Sweet! That's how we do things in Porkland/Multnomah County!

Things are looking up for a couple of towns along the Columbia River: Rep. Greg Walden's got traction going for Hermiston, Oregon, as his legislation allowing OSU to relocate its agricultural research station has passed the House. Basically, the problem with its current location is that the little town has more than quadrupled in population, and much of the station's footprint is now inside the city limits.

As originally written, the grant allocating the land for a research station would revert to federal ownership if it ever moved, and Walden was able to successfully strip that requirement. This - if passed in the Senate - will allow the station to move further away and free up land in the Hermiston city limits for future development.

Further west, meanwhile, Astoria schools get a much-needed shot in the arm after some grim years; they're due to get $800,000 more from the state, which should enable them to add another teacher or two, buy new textbooks, and pick up some 100+ Chromebooks for elementary and middle-school kids. The latter two are especially good additions, as texts haven't been updated in half a dozen years, while Chromebooks based on the Android OS are relatively bulletproof when compared to Windows machines, and considerably less expensive than Apple or Windows counterparts.

According to one Cambridge academic, Americans are prone to conspiracy theories because our country was founded upon them. Somehow, America's founders developed and then promulgated the ridiculous notion that the King, back there in jolly old London, was conspiring to deprive them of their liberties. Of course, that was just silly-talk. But as a result, Americans have been unusually accepting of conspiracy theories. So, pip-pip and all, there you have it: Americans are suckers.

Jolly good, then; now we've cleared all that up, we can move on to another non-issue over in London's Bartlett Park. It seems that dogs should not be walked there, as dogs are offensive to the delicate sensibilities of a certain segment of the population.

This development has engendered a certain amount of indignation, although it remains unclear as to just who posted the proclamation; obviously there are militants within the "Muslim community", but then there are people who deeply oppose the refusal of Muslim immigrants to integrate into the British culture, as they have observed the result in countries such as Sweden in which Muslim enclaves have been declared "no-go zones" for non-Muslims. They don't want to see such things occurring on their little island, quite understandably. So it's quite possible that one of their lot may have posted the flyer in an effort to stir things up. Or not.

May 30, 2014

They really need to stop tossing that word around; it's way over-used. The reason why Portland has fewer rats, apart from those in public office, than most cities is because we're so high-tech here: we use these things called "trash cans". In places like Chicago and New York, they went with plastic bags back in the 60s because convenience.

The bags are easy to get into, meaning that food's in abundant supply. Not so in Portland. Less access to food = fewer rats; it's a pretty basic equation. There's nothing "artisanal" about it.

For some time now - actually for the past decade - there have been some strange boats humming around the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver. They can go really fast, yet at other times they can barely be seen. Finally, the mystery's been solved: they're actually three generations of stealth sleds for Navy SEALS.

The already low-slung Alligator has the ability to lower its draft to the point where the cabin windows sit right above the waterline via flooring ballast tanks located on each side and below the boat's main cabin. This results in the boat not only being very hard to spot on radar but it also challenging to spot visually. The streamlined hull and low drag design, along with some powerful water-jets, allow it to move at high speed, especially when its ballast tanks are empty.

First deployed in the mid-1990s, the Alligator class has been supplanted by the Sealion and then Sealion II classes. The Sealions can reportedly hit 40 knots in normal conditions and at least 30 knots in heavy seas. They're bigger and faster than the Alligators, but retain the semi-submersible feature. They also sport a roomier interior cabin and a rear bay capable of holding two raiding craft with retractable door for rapid access and egress.

So what are they doing on the Columbia?

They're doing shakedown runs. These things are built by Oregon Iron Works.

Seattle probably used Kiewit to build part of their freeways, just as ODOT did. Recently, we discussed the role that an expanding expansion joint has played in numerous wrecks on the flyover ramp connecting I-5 north with highway 217, south of Portland.

It seems that the same issue's cropped up in Seattle, where a muti-vehicle wreck on I-5 yesterday morning brought the city to a halt.

An expansion joint is a gap between bridge spans, allowing the structures to expand and contract with temperature changes. Many are covered by steel plates to protect the joint from moisture or erosion.

The problem is that over time, vibration causes them to shift. Newer techniques use rubber or silicone fillers, eliminating the problem.

When I was a kid, we walked to and from school every day, no matter the weather. And school was a little over a mile from home. Snow, rain, wind, - it didn't matter; we walked. But at least in Hawaii, it's a different world:

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — A judge sentenced a Hawaii man to one year of probation and a $200 fine for making his son walk a mile home from school as a form of discipline.

Robert Demond of Kilauea said he picked up his son from school and asked about a matter that had been brought to his attention. When the son didn't respond, Demond made him walk home to think about his actions.

Demond was also ordered to attend a parenting class after being convicted of endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor.

How do they expect kids to stay in shape when they're not allowed to play dodgeball or tag - or even walk home from school? Where's Mooch Obama on all of this? Heck, walking's even Green&Sustainable!